Something that’s been proven to work in business, is that people will mostly buy from those they already know, like and trust.
Are you searching for cost-effective ways to sell more products online? Then make it easier for your prospects to get to know, like and trust you, your team and your business better.
Adding a directory of staff to your site can help increase your credibility online and get interested prospects buying from your site.
This step-by-step tutorial explains how to create an easy-to-update directory of staff in WordPress.
Adding A Staff Directory: Plugin Tutorial
In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a no cost plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin
(Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin)
Simple Staff List lets you easily staff.
First, let’s install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.
Log into the dashboard and from the admin menu section, choose Plugins > Add New …
(WP Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins area, search for “simple staff plugin”. This will bring up the Simple Staff Plugin in your plugin search results.
Click on the Install Now button …
(WordPress Plugins – plugin search results)
Click the Activate Plugin link …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating the plugin, you will see that a new menu will have been added to the WordPress admin menu section called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
This menu is where you will manage and configure all of the settings for this plugin are configured and managed in the Staff Members menu.
Configuring The Plugin
Depending on the size of your business and how you want to structure your directory, you could just start adding new entries after installing the plugin, or create different groups (i.e. categories) to assign yourmembers into.
Staff Members – Groups
Let’s start by setting up your directory groups. In your WordPress dashboard menu, select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
This brings up the Groups screen in your web browser …
(Groups settings screen)
Note: Adding groups works just like WordPress categories …
(Groups work just like WordPress categories)
Add a new group by entering the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your category name
- Slug – Enter the URL-friendly version of your group. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
- Parent – This section lets you set up nested groups
- Description – Enter your category description in this field (optional)
- Click the Add New Group button when done to set up the new directory category …
(Groups screen)
If you manage a medium to large organization, the ability to create categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for investors, developers, departments, etc.
Create as many groups and nested groups as you need by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to build a directory hierarchy …
(Nested groups)
Remember to click on the Add New Group button after entering new items …
To edit Groups for specific items, hover over a category title and select the Edit link …
The item will open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new parent category from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group settings)
Click the Update button to save your changes …
To change the Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and click on Quick Edit …
Click the Update Group button after making changes …
Continue adding groups in this section until you are done creating your directory structure …
You can add as many nested categories as you like …
(Nested groups)
After you are done setting up your groups, you can begin to add names to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
From your WordPress admin menu, choose Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
The Add New Staff Member screen …
(Add New Staff Member section)
This section provides you with an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member profile and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Your employee’s name
- Permalink: Modify the permalink URL associated with each staff member if required (you will see this section after saving your details).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Upload a photo of your staff member
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Your employee’s position
- Email: The staff member’s email
- Phone Number: The staff member’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Type your company’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Add your employee’s Twitter username into this field (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)
Staff Member Bio Section (4)
- Staff Member Bio: Add a profile description for your staff member here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can format content in this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: You can assign your staff member to a specific group (see the previous section of this tutorial to learn how to set up your groups).
Click on the Screen Options tab at the top of the screen …
(Screen options tab)
You can enable additional features …
(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)
Now that you know what each section does, enter each of your staff member’s details …
(Staff directory settings)
After you have entered details, assign your new entry to a directory group in the Groups feature located in the sidebar …
(Groups box)
Note: If you did not set up categories before starting to add new staff members, you can create a group now by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …
(Add a new group inside your Groups box)
A field for creating your group name will display, with a drop-down menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new category and click on Add New Group …
Your new group will be created. Remember to tick the check box to assign the list entry to the group …
(New group added via Groups box)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or making changes to someone’s details. To edit an item, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section above for details).
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After entering the person’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the employee directory …
Click View Post …
To edit your staff member’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in your WordPress admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)
We have created a detailed tutorial about using the admin toolbar here:
Note: If you have set up groups and get ’page not found’ errors like the one shown below, check that your permalinks have been set up correctly …
(Not found error – Check your permalinks)
To learn more about setting up WordPress permalinks, see this tutorial:
Repeat the above process to continue adding more members to your staff directory directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering staff members into your directory, you can view and edit details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members in your WordPress admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table with all the directory items and their details …
(Staff Members table)
If you need to edit individual entries, hover your mouse over their list name, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit if you want to edit the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete a member from your staff directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by selecting View …
(Edit Staff Members profile info)
Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your list can become unwieldy.
You can use the Search Staff Members search field to locate items …
(Search members)
The plugin also allows you to specify which fields to display in this screen. To show or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab …
(Screen Options tab)
Placing a tick in the item’s check box displays the field and unchecking a box hides the field. You can also specify how many staff members are listed per page. Click the Apply button when finished to save your preferences …
Staff Members – Order
The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you specify the order in which entries show on your directory pages.
Click Staff Members > Order on your WordPress admin menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your items, click and drag the item to the desired location …
(Reorder items using drag and drop)
Your list will automatically be rearranged …
(Reordered list items)
After adding all employees’ details to your directory, the next step is to display your directory on your site.
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to arrange the order that your employee profiles appear on your directory pages.
Choose Staff Members > Order on the dashboard menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your entries, click and drag the item to the new position …
(Reorder items using drag and drop)
Your directory will be automatically reordered …
(Reordered list items)
After adding all members’ listing details to the directory, the next step is to make the directory display on your site.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
Simple Staff List allows you to edit the layout and style of your staff directory listings using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Templates Menu
To customize the layout and style of your directory, select Staff Members > Templates from your menu …
(Staff Members – Templates)
This brings up the Templates page …
(Templates screen)
To customize your directory listings, insert any of the allowed template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, here is a screenshot of the Default Staff Loop Template …
(Default Simple Staff List Template)
The above code displays the listing shown below …
(Default Staff Loop Template Listing)
Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above listing. To display these fields, you will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags in the template, as shown in the screenshot below …
(Template tags can be added to the Staff Loop Template to customize your directory page)
Your employee listings will now display Facebook and Twitter addresses as as the screenshot below shows …
(Directory with social media URLs added)
Note: If you want to customize how your staff directory looks but don’t want to mess around with CSS code and template tags or are not sure how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for help.
Usage Menu
As well as being able to customize your directory templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.
In your dashboard menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This brings up the Usage page …
(Simple Staff List – Usage shortcode variations)
This screen lists all different shortcode variations that the plugin allows you to use.
For example, a useful variation you can add to your page to display only members of a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”customer representatives”])
Or, you can make your listings display in ascending or descending order by inserting the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
In the dashboard menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This opens the Options screen …
(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)
Here you can change some of the labels used in the plugin
Finally, you can also export your staff members data from the Tools > Export section …
(Export Staff Members plugin info)
If you need additional information about this plugin, go to the Simple Staff List plugin website.
Other Staff Directory Plugins
Simple Staff List is not the only plugin you can use to display a listing of your employees in WordPress. Here are some other free WordPress plugins you can look at for adding a staff directory on your website:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)
The Modern Team Staff Directory plugin helps you collect your team information and showcase it anywhere on your site in beautiful grids, columns and tables. This premium plugin features over a dozen presets and provides editors that make it easy to edit and update your directory.
(Modern Team Staff Directory – Responsive Templates)
For more details go here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WP Plugin)
This plugin lets you easily display a list of staff/faculty/team members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, schools, etc.
You can also set up custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot sourced from Staff Directory plugin website)
To learn more about the plugin go here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
This plugin provides a simple and flexible faculty and staff directory for a small college, school or university.
The plugin also includes a widget that allows you to feature profiles in a widget area.
More info:
Company Directory
(Company Directory)
The Company Directory plugin lets you easily add your staff to your website. Different layouts are included, including list and table views, as well as fields like job title, email, phone, image and bio, allowing visitors to get to know your company and capabilities.
Visitors can click through from your list, grid, and table views to read more about each employee in a customizable single view …
(Display your staff and faculty in an easy to view format. Screenshot source: Company Directory plugin website)
This plugin uses simple shortcodes.
Go here to learn more:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
Employee Spotlight displays staff members, partners or just an individual person in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.
Employee Spotlight includes two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees, and two responsive views which adjust to the viewer’s screen.
Detailed information about each team member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with employee circle grid. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
Learn more about this plugin here:
Staffer
(Staffer – WordPress Plugin)
The Staffer plugin uses custom post types for staff management and supports the display of staff members via a shortcode, allowing you to easily create and manage an onsite staff directory …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from Staffer plugin website)
Staffer works immediately with many popular WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
Go here to learn more:
If the directory plugins listed above aren’t what you’re looking for, search the WordPress plugin directory or go online and search for:
- Add Staff Directory To WordPress
- WordPress Staff Plugin
- WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
- Employee Directory WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, now you know how to easily add an easy-to-manage simple faculty directory in a WordPress site.
Images of persons used to depict sample staff members in this tutorial were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"If you're new to WordPress, this can stand on its own as a training course and will stay with you as you progress from beginner to advanced and even guru status." - Bruce (Columbus, Ohio)